Daily news 7th November 2017


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UK news

November DDN magazine out now

Our cover story shows that the glue that holds together successful partnerships is missing in many areas. The pressure of having to do much more with much less can have a damning effect on the imagination and it’s unsurprising that staff are driven into feeling defensive and demotivated. Providers obviously play a central role in turning this around – but is this possible if they’re focused on survival? Caroline Cole suggests responding to the challenges by borrowing from the corporate world, while Robert Mee draws on his personal experience to share how he created his support network for the LGBT+ community | DDN, UK

40,000 healthcare professionals trained to help smokers quit

Public Health England event in Birmingham promotes government tobacco control plan and the drive to make the NHS smoke-free by 2019 | DoH, UK

Budget 2017: Pubs urge Hammond to cut beer duty

Beer duty should be cut by a penny in this month's Budget to help save pubs from closing, the British Beer and Pub Association (BPA) has said | BBC, UK

The government response to the report from the House of Lords Select Committee on the Licensing Act 2003

The government response to the report from the House of Lords Select Committee on the Licensing Act 2003: post-legislative scrutiny | Home Office, UK

Has the smoking ban had an effect on deaths from lung cancer dropping? - Saturday Briefing

Is there anything you are desperately yearning to know? Are there any pressing factual disputes you would like us to help resolve? This is the page where we shall do our best to answer any questions you throw at us, whatever the subject | Express, UK

Former Health Secretary claims Brexit would allow minimum alcohol price

BREXIT would allow alcohol minimum pricing in Scotland if the policy is blocked by the UK's highest court, according to former Scottish Health Secretary Alex Neil | Herald, UK

Five million adults have tried to stop smoking in the last year – but one in five didn’t last a month

Researchers who carried out a detailed study found around five million adults have attempted to stop smoking in the last year | Scottish Sun, UK

We Asked People About the K-Holes That Changed Their Lives

"Crazy that it took a K-hole for me to see how important love was." | VICE, UK

'Eye-watering' cuts sees drop of £1m in drug and alcohol support in Cumbria

The figures show the funding for support in Cumbria has dropped, and will remain at a constant level for the next three years | News and Star, UK

Mind and Body Programme participants enter their film "Step Out of the Crowd" into The Charity Film Awards

Support the powerful film made by participants from 'Mind and Body', the early intervention programme delivered by Addaction which aims to support young people involved in self harming behaviours | Addaction, UK

Young Addaction Kent receives volunteering award

Young Addaction in Kent are very proud to have been presented with the prestigious REVAMP (Recognition of Excellence in Volunteering and Management Practice) award at a recent ceremony in their Faversham premises | Addaction, UK

The Forward Trust Acquire Vision Housing

Vision Housing, a London based charity and social enterprise that supports prisoners into housing, has been acquired by The Forward Trust, a social business with charitable status that supports people to break the cycles of crime and addiction | Forward Trust, UK

[Event] In Conversation: Jenny Valentish & Rosalind Stone

Join us for an evening with Jenny Valentish – author of ‘Woman of Substances: A Journey into Addiction and Treatment’ – and university harm-reduction advocate Rosalind Stone, at  Volteface HQ in London on Friday 24th November | Volte Face, UK

Watch as policeman dramatically intercepts drone carrying drugs and mobile phones into Pentonville Prison

Prison CCTV cameras captured the dramatic moment a plain clothes detective brings down a drone trying to smuggle drugs into Pentoville Prison | Telegraph, UK

Arrests after Shaftesbury drug-related death

Two men have been arrested in connection with the drug-related death of a man in Dorset | BBC, UK

 

International news

GDS2018 the largest drugs survey in the world - video

Each year, GDS consults more than 100,000 people around the world on the way they use drugs. We do this to get to the heart of how, where, when, why and what drugs are being taken. By discussing the findings we aim to make drug use safer, regardless of the legal status of the drug | Global Drug Survey, UK

The impact of the 'war on drugs' for female 'mules'

University of Kent research on women working as drug 'mules' has found they aren't victims of their sex but of the trade, and its illegal status | EurekAlert, UK

As tourist faces possible death penalty over painkillers, these are the medicines that could get you jailed abroad

Tourist Laura Plummer has been held in an Egyptian prison for four weeks and could even face the death penalty after she tried to bring painkillers to the country | Irish Times, Ireland

Delay on gambling laws sparks concern

Gambling companies have called on the Government to lay its cards on the table regarding regulation of the industry, saying it seemed legislation was being deliberately stalled | Irish Examiner, Ireland

Responsibility Vs freedom: Teens who drink at home are more likely to binge

Over-permissive’ or ‘disengaged’ parenting leaves children vulnerable and unprotected | Irish Times, Ireland

WHO Expert Committee on Drug Dependence

The Thirty-ninth meeting of the Expert Committee on Drug Dependence (ECDD) will be held in Geneva, Switzerland, 6 – 10 November 2017 | WHO, Switzerland

Policy and practice briefings: Addressing the misuse of medicines

Misuse of medicines refers to the use of a psychoactive medicine for self-medication, recreational or enhancement purposes, with or without a medical prescription and outside accepted medical guidelines. It may occur in the context of polydrug use | EMCDDA, Portugal

Policy and practice briefings: Reducing opioid-related deaths

Mortality directly or indirectly related to use of opioids is a major cause of avoidable premature deaths among European adults. Overall drug-related mortality rates are 1–2 % per year among high-risk opioid users in Europe and drug overdoses account for over 7 000 deaths per annum | EMCDDA, Portugal

With cigarettes out of favor, many U.S. teens also shun pot

Today's American teens are smoking less than ever, and the trend may be keeping many from smoking pot, too. That's the finding of a new study that tracked more than 1 million teens from 1991 to 2016 | Medical Xpress, USA

FDA alerts public about fraudulent claims that marijuana products can treat, cure cancer

The Food and Drug Administration has warned the public to beware of fraudulent advertising that promises that certain marijuana-derived products can be used to prevent, diagnose, treat and cure cancer | Medical Xpress, USA

Can cannabinoids be used to treat cancer?

When cannabinoids activate signaling pathways in cancer cells they can stimulate a cell death mechanism called apoptosis, unleashing a potent anti-tumor effect. Yet cannabinoids, which have also shown strong activity against human tumor tissue grown in animal models, have undergone minimal testing in patients | Medical Xpress, USA

Veterans tell of medical marijuana use in defiance of backward federal policy

Joshua James Frey is clear: “Without medical marijuana I would be dead.” | Washington Post, USA

Higher estrogen levels linked to increased alcohol sensitivity in brain's 'reward center'

The reward center of the brain is much more attuned to the pleasurable effects of alcohol when estrogen levels are elevated, an effect that may underlie the development of addiction in women, according to a study on mice at the University of Illinois at Chicago | Medical Xpress, USA

Indigenous youth who use drugs in B.C. dying at an alarming rate, study finds

Indigenous youth who use drugs in B.C. are 13 times more likely to die than all other youth in the same age group across the country. That's according to a new study, which singled out young women and those involved with injection drug use to be at the highest risk | CBC News, Canada

 

Blogs, comment and opinion

The challenge of recruiting licensed premises to host prevention research

In September 2016, I embarked on my journey to a doctorate at Oxford Brookes University. Still enraptured having been awarded a studentship, I felt invincible; my study was going to be a trail blazer | EUSPR Blog, UK